Stockholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Equity [Abstract]

Stockholders' Equity

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

National banking laws restrict the maximum amount of dividends that a bank may pay in any calendar year.  National banks are limited to the bank’s retained net income (as defined) for the current year plus those for the previous two years.  The amount at December 31, 2012, available for 2013 dividends from the Corporation’s subsidiaries (both banking and non-banking) was $70,704,000.

Total stockholders' equity for all subsidiaries at December 31, 2012, was $632,269,000 of which $561,565,000 was restricted from dividend distribution to the Corporation.

The Corporation has a Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan, enabling stockholders to elect to have their cash dividends on all shares held automatically reinvested in additional shares of the Corporation’s common stock. In addition, stockholders may elect to make optional cash payments up to an aggregate of $2,500 per quarter for the purchase of additional shares of common stock.  The stock is credited to participant accounts at fair market value.  Dividends are reinvested on a quarterly basis.

Equity Offering

On September 9, 2011, the Corporation entered into securities purchase agreements with two investors, pursuant to which the Corporation sold an aggregate of 2,822,000 shares of its common stock in exchange for gross proceeds of approximately $21.2 million. The purchase price for each share of common stock was $7.50. The common stock was issued in a direct private placement exempt from registration pursuant to Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Rule 506 of Regulation D promulgated thereunder.

Preferred Stock

On June 30, 2010 the Corporation entered into an Exchange Agreement with the Treasury whereby the Treasury exchanged 46,400 shares of the Series A Preferred Stock for 46,400 shares of trust preferred securities, having a liquidation amount of $1,000 per share (the “Capital Securities”) issued by the Corporation’s wholly-owned subsidiary trust, First Merchants Capital Trust III, a Delaware Statutory Trust (the “Trust”).  The Trust simultaneously issued 1,435 shares of the Trust’s common securities (the “Common Securities”) to the Corporation for the purchase price of $1.4 million which constituted all of the issued and outstanding common securities of the Trust. The Trust used the tendered Series A Preferred Stock and the proceeds from the sale of the Common Securities to purchase $47.8 million in aggregate principal amount of Fixed Rate Perpetual Junior Subordinated Debentures, Series A issued by the Corporation (the “Debentures”).  The Capital Securities and the Debentures bore interest, payable quarterly, at a rate of five percent until February 20, 2014 when the rate increases to nine percent.  The Capital Securities and Debentures were redeemable by the Corporation upon proper notice and regulatory approval (a) at any time, so long as the Capital Securities were held by the Treasury and (b) at any time after June 30, 2015, if the Capital Securities were held by a person or entity other than the Treasury.  The Series A Preferred Stock, purchased from the Treasury were cancelled.  Following the exchange, the Treasury continued to hold 69,600 shares of Series A Preferred Stock along with the Warrant to initially purchase up to 991,453 shares of the Corporation’s common stock.  This particular exchange resulted in a gain on retirement of Preferred Stock and favorably impacting retained earnings by $10.1 million (net of deferred taxes), which was also considered as part of earnings available to common stockholders in the earnings per common share (“EPS”) computations.

On September 22, 2011, the Corporation entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with the Treasury, pursuant to which the Corporation issued 90,782.94 shares of the Corporation’s Senior Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series B (the “Series B Preferred Stock”), having a liquidation amount per share equal to $1,000, for a total purchase price of $90,782,940. The Purchase Agreement was entered into, and the Series B Preferred Stock was issued, pursuant to the SBLF program, a $30 billion fund established under the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, that encourages lending to small businesses by providing capital to qualified community banks with assets of less than $10 billion.

Preferred Stock continued

The Series B Preferred Stock is entitled to receive non-cumulative dividends, payable quarterly, on each January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1, beginning October 1, 2011. The Purchase Agreement defines the dividend rate as a percentage of the liquidation amount, and can fluctuate on a quarterly basis during the first ten quarters during which the Series B Preferred Stock is outstanding, based upon changes in the level of Qualified Small Business Lending (“QSBL”) by the Bank.  Based upon the Bank’s level of QSBL over the baseline level calculated under the terms of the Purchase Agreement (the “Baseline”), the dividend rate for the initial dividend period has been set at 5 percent. For the second through tenth dividend periods, the dividend rate may be adjusted to between 1 percent and 5 percent per annum, to reflect the amount of change in the Bank’s level of QSBL. In addition to the dividend, in the event the Bank’s level of QSBL has not increased relative to the Baseline, at the beginning of the tenth calendar quarter, the Corporation will be subject to an additional lending incentive fee equal to 2 percent per annum. For the eleventh dividend period through the eighteenth dividend period, inclusive, and that portion of the nineteenth dividend period before, but not including, the four and one half year anniversary of the date of issuance, the dividend rate will be fixed at between 1 percent and 7 percent per annum based upon the increase in QSBL as compared to the baseline. After four and one half years from issuance, the dividend rate will increase to 9 percent.

The Series B Preferred Stock is non-voting, except in limited circumstances. In the event that the Corporation misses five dividend payments, whether or not consecutive, the holder of the Series B Preferred Stock will have the right, but not the obligation, to appoint a representative as an observer on the Corporation’s Board of Directors. In the event that the Corporation misses six dividend payments, whether or not consecutive, and if the then outstanding aggregate liquidation amount of the Series B Preferred Stock is at least $25,000,000, then the holder of the Series B Preferred Stock will have the right to designate two directors to the Board of Directors of the Corporation.

The Series B Preferred Stock may be redeemed at any time at the Corporation’s option, at a redemption price of 100 percent of the liquidation amount plus accrued but unpaid dividends to the date of redemption for the current period, subject to the approval of its federal banking regulator.

The Series B Preferred Stock was issued in a private placement exempt from registration pursuant to Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The Corporation has agreed to register the Series B Preferred Stock under certain circumstances set forth in Annex E to the Purchase Agreement. The Series B Preferred Stock is not subject to any contractual restrictions on transfer.

Also on September 22, 2011, the Corporation entered into and consummated two letter agreements (each, a “Repurchase Letter”) with the Treasury, pursuant to which the Corporation redeemed, out of the proceeds of the issuance of the Series B Preferred Stock in the amount of $90,782,940 and cash of $25,813,171 (of which $21,165,000 was raised through a private placement of the Corporation’s common stock on September 9, 2011) for an aggregate redemption price of $116,596,111, including accrued but unpaid dividends to the date of redemption: (i) the remaining 69,600 shares of the Corporation’s Series A Preferred Stock, and (ii) all 46,400 Capital Securities held by the Treasury .

The foregoing summary of the terms of the Repurchase Letters is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by, the full text of the Repurchase Letters.

On November 23, 2011, the Corporation also repurchased the Warrant to purchase 991,453 shares of the Corporation’s common stock at an exercise price of $17.55 per share with an expiration date of February 20, 2019 (the “Warrant”) held by the Treasury.  The Corporation was the successful bidder in a private auction for the Warrant conducted by the Treasury with a winning bid of $367,500.